When Push Comes to Shove

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Want to attract new customers and boost customer loyalty? Then it’s time to reach out to your prospects in a gentle, authentic way. It’s much more fun that pushing hard in a bid to ‘grab’ customers. And much easier, saysTracey Dooley…

Would you rather have customers call YOU than your competition — or worse, how about pounding the pavement in an effort to ‘bid’ for your potential buyers’ attention?

The problem is, very few solopreneurs actually PULL clients in. Most simply wait for clients to come to them, with little strategy involved. And that can be a long, lonely wait. Others, along with most small businesses, just PUSH their marketing on unsuspecting prospects. That’s fine. But there is a much less expensive and ‘in your face’ alternative: pull marketing…

Push marketing involves the traditional ‘aren’t we great’ type of marketing. It includes cold calling, email broadcasts, direct mail, online banner ads, advertising and other techniques that push products or services on your behalf. It’s where you actively drive out your message to your target market. And it typically comprises a pitch that attempts to sell products or services in one step.

Pull marketing, on the other hand, is a much softer, more low-key and long-term approach. It’s about developing relationships that attract your ideal client to you . . . giving prospects exactly what they want. And it uses communications to alert customers to this fact, including websites, social networks, proactive referral systems, articles, blogs, white papers and reports, speaking engagements, and so on.

Supply & Demand is the Name of the Game

Essentially, it’s about being visible in your community, inviting prospects into your marketing funnel and following up with them with educational materials — IF they have given you permission to do so, of course.

In today’s marketplace, most people are too sceptical to respond to full-on push-marketing techniques. It’s kind of like asking someone to marry you the first time you meet them!

It’s true that plenty of businesses — in particular larger corporations — still use push marketing . . . and with great success. But it’s becoming increasingly common to combine the two, if not focus entirely on pull marketing to draw in customers.

So, should YOU push your prospects through the door to your ‘shop’ (virtual or bricks and mortar) or encourage them to come in on their own accord via pull marketing?

The best marketers blend push and pull strategies to reach their customers with the optimum marketing mix. By doing this yourself, you’ll attract customers that react to one type or the other. We’re all different, and we each respond differently to marketing messages and the way in which they are delivered.

Initially, though, I’d suggest a marketing strategy that uses pull marketing first, and then push marketing. Doing it the other way around is kind of like attempting to run before you can walk.

What Happens When You Don’t Plan Accordingly…

An example of a group who learned this the hard way are artists in a Midlands county who leafleted all the local schools, but without first ensuring they had websites up and running, testimonials, business cards, etc. As a result, they received no commissions. Worse, they had inadvertently made themselves look unprofessional and disorganised to their prospects.

Any business can use pull marketing to their advantage. Simply find out what your customers want — and give it to them. And when you’re ready to add a measure of push marketing, make sure it is delivered in the same tone as your pull marketing. The idea is that it should feel AUTHENTIC to both your prospects AND you.

The end goal is to continually fill your pipeline effortlessly and honestly. So bear in mind that the best marketing strategy is one that considers its target market first, and then includes everything necessary to make your product or service as attractive as possible to that market — and easy to find.

Give it a go, and do let me know how you get on.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter| Editor | Word Doctor

Not sure how to bring push-and-pull marketing into your business, or how to create a compelling marketing message in the first place? Looking for an easy, step-by-step proven system? As well as offering worksheets and home-study tools (just ask), I can give you profit-multiplying advice and pointers on things you can do straight away to attract new business. See my Powerfully Effective Marketing Sessions page for more information.